Since it's the start of a new season, even a team like Washington who has been tanking may want to try and produce wins now rather than fold so quickly. Memphis would need a backup PF to help out Randolph who was also injured for part of last year, so finding a legit backup is important.

Rational: Toronto gets their stud wing. Memphis gets a SF in Ariza that has playoff experience and can fill in for Gay (plus is a good outside shooter which Memphis needs), plus Davis to fill in for Arthur and DeRozan to give them the slashing wing that still has potential and is an expiring contract. The 2013 2nd round pick is thrown in from the Calderon trade to Washington. Washington on the other hand gets a legit point guard to help the team for two months while Wall recovers. He can then become part of their backup unit and is an expiring contract which is definitely a bonus for a rebuilding team.

Rational: Basically similar to trade one, except we swap Ross for DeRozan and Amir for Davis. I'd prefer trade 1 since Ross is still an unknown but that would be giving Memphis a lottery pick for Gay which is really what he'd be worth and what they could be asking for.

Gay may not be for sale especially for a backup PF.. considering they still have Speights. However no time like the present to enquire about him (ie, before camp really opens).

In terms of the Raptors, they're okay trades. ONLY OKAY trades though. The first trade is only gonna be worth while if Ross can prove that he has equal or more potential than DeRozan. If Ross turns out to be a bust (Knocking on wood), this trade wouldn't be worth it since we'll move our SF problem to a SG problem. The second trade is only worth it if Derozan shows improvement this season. If he starts off poorly like he did last year (Again knocking on wood), the trade would really hurt the Raptors as it would prove that Demar is not the long term SG for the Raptors. DD really needs to prove that he can be the SG of the Raptors' future this season! Overall decent trades for the Raptors, but too much uncertainty going into next season...

In terms of the Raptors, they're okay trades. ONLY OKAY trades though. The first trade is only gonna be worth while if Ross can prove that he has equal or more potential than DeRozan. If Ross turns out to be a bust (Knocking on wood), this trade wouldn't be worth it since we'll move our SF problem to a SG problem. The second trade is only worth it if Derozan shows improvement this season. If he starts off poorly like he did last year (Again knocking on wood), the trade would really hurt the Raptors as it would prove that Demar is not the long term SG for the Raptors. DD really needs to prove that he can be the SG of the Raptors' future this season! Overall decent trades for the Raptors, but too much uncertainty going into next season...

I imagine fields would move to sg. I don't see a sg problem if Ross doesn't develop.
My problem with it is not getting a pg in return for Jose
Lowry/Lucas
Fields/Ross
Gay/Kleiza
Andrea/Amir
Valanciunas/Gray
I like this better than our current roster but 1. I doubt it would ever happen and 2. I don't think Lucas is a suitable backup. If we could get a pg somehow after this trade, I'd be all for it.

In terms of the Raptors, they're okay trades. ONLY OKAY trades though. The first trade is only gonna be worth while if Ross can prove that he has equal or more potential than DeRozan. If Ross turns out to be a bust (Knocking on wood), this trade wouldn't be worth it since we'll move our SF problem to a SG problem. The second trade is only worth it if Derozan shows improvement this season. If he starts off poorly like he did last year (Again knocking on wood), the trade would really hurt the Raptors as it would prove that Demar is not the long term SG for the Raptors. DD really needs to prove that he can be the SG of the Raptors' future this season! Overall decent trades for the Raptors, but too much uncertainty going into next season...

DeRozan has been given a lot of minutes to prove himself in my opinion, and this is his make it or break it year for me. To turn down an elite player like Gay for a guy who has been given a lot of chances and can only do one thing (score) and at a mediocre rate is not taking a big risk again in my opinion.

Gay can slash just as good as DeRozan can, but he can also shoot from the outside, rebound and defend (although I wouldn't consider his defense stellar it is twice as good as DeMar's, and Gay hasn't been coached by Casey). Gay is still very young and has 3 years left in his massive contract, which expires at the same time as Val/Ross are up for a renewal in theirs (which makes the timing perfect). Fields can play the 2 while Ross develops. Fields is more of a SG then a SF anyway so I don't see how this would turn our SF problem into a SG problem. Besides Lowry likes to slash as well, and so a SG that is a spot-up shooter (Fields/Ross) is probably more ideal for Lowry than a slashing SG like DeMar.

Of course there are big questions to this trade:
- Is Gay even available?
- Do they like the package for Gay that I offered? Cleveland/Houston could offer potentially better packages for him if Memphis covets draft picks/expiring contracts.
- Would Washington swap Ariza and a 2nd rounder for Jose? Wall is only going to miss one month of the regular season, which could only be about 10-15 games. But I think they have a PG depth issue. They have a lot of depth in their wings. So they might do this even if Wall was back.
- Would Bryan be willing to give up his 'flexibility' by trading away his expiring contract for a big salary like Gay?

I imagine fields would move to sg. I don't see a sg problem if Ross doesn't develop.
My problem with it is not getting a pg in return for Jose
Lowry/Lucas
Fields/Ross
Gay/Kleiza
Andrea/Amir
Valanciunas/Gray
I like this better than our current roster but 1. I doubt it would ever happen and 2. I don't think Lucas is a suitable backup. If we could get a pg somehow after this trade, I'd be all for it.

I think JL3 is a good backup for Lowry. He did a decent enough job in Chicago with Rose gone. Ross does seem to have some handles as well.. I wonder if he could potentially play some PG for us if we ever needed him to? I don't think it would be so hard to get a decent backup PG if we need to though. I'm sure you could get one by just packaging our 2nd rounders for example or signing a free agent next year like DJ Augustin, or Devin Harris. We could even try and bring Jose back (if he isn't pissed off at us for trading him to Washington).

DeRozan has been given a lot of minutes to prove himself in my opinion, and this is his make it or break it year for me. To turn down an elite player like Gay for a guy who has been given a lot of chances and can only do one thing (score) and at a mediocre rate is not taking a big risk again in my opinion.

Gay can slash just as good as DeRozan can, but he can also shoot from the outside, rebound and defend (although I wouldn't consider his defense stellar it is twice as good as DeMar's, and Gay hasn't been coached by Casey). Gay is still very young and has 3 years left in his massive contract, which expires at the same time as Val/Ross are up for a renewal in theirs (which makes the timing perfect). Fields can play the 2 while Ross develops. Fields is more of a SG then a SF anyway so I don't see how this would turn our SF problem into a SG problem. Besides Lowry likes to slash as well, and so a SG that is a spot-up shooter (Fields/Ross) is probably more ideal for Lowry than a slashing SG like DeMar.

Of course there are big questions to this trade:
- Is Gay even available?
- Do they like the package for Gay that I offered? Cleveland/Houston could offer potentially better packages for him if Memphis covets draft picks/expiring contracts.
- Would Washington swap Ariza and a 2nd rounder for Jose? Wall is only going to miss one month of the regular season, which could only be about 10-15 games. But I think they have a PG depth issue. They have a lot of depth in their wings. So they might do this even if Wall was back.
- Would Bryan be willing to give up his 'flexibility' by trading away his expiring contract for a big salary like Gay?

I would think the flexibility is all about getting a player like Gay. Once you have him on the books, Bird Rights kick in for the others..... this assumes you would want the current group of players to stay longer than their contracts (Bargnani, Lowry, JV, in particular).

I think JL3 is a good backup for Lowry. He did a decent enough job in Chicago with Rose gone. Ross does seem to have some handles as well.. I wonder if he could potentially play some PG for us if we ever needed him to? I don't think it would be so hard to get a decent backup PG if we need to though. I'm sure you could get one by just packaging our 2nd rounders for example or signing a free agent next year like DJ Augustin, or Devin Harris. We could even try and bring Jose back (if he isn't pissed off at us for trading him to Washington).

What about B Uzoh (?) our starter at the end of last year? Decent (remember, we are talking about our 3rd stringer).